Microsoft is expanding the Xbox brand in expected ways but a new announcement shows that the company is willing to step off the beaten path a bit, as well. Partnering up with Lynx, the company behind Axe body spray, GameSpot reports that Microsoft revealed an Xbox line of personal care products including shower gel, body spray, and deodorant.
The Lynx Xbox scent is described as a “fresh scent of pulsing green citrus, featuring top notes of kaffir lime and winter lemon, aromatic herbal middle notes of mint and sage, and woody bottom notes of patchouli and clearwood.”
“We see Xbox fans achieve incredible things every day, and we wanted to celebrate that elevated skill, passion, and determination by creating something truly special,” Tania Chee, Xbox Australia’s business group lead, told The Verge. “Now, powering up can be as simple as a quick spray before you head out the door.”
In gaming, Microsoft is strengthening the move to support PC by creating a dedicated Xbox Game Pass for PC gamers and is expanding Xbox Live to Android, iOS, and Nintendo Switch. The company even wants to find a way to get Xbox Game Pass on other platforms if they welcome it and it did recently engage in a gaming driven partnership with Sony.
As for non-gaming branding, this isn’t the first attempt to expanding Xbox into strange spaces and it’s far from the last. Microsoft has maintained a relationship with Taco Bell over the years but that has been limited to Xbox offers with Taco Bell purchases, not a branded food item. In Japan, however, fast food chain Triple-O created a limited burger but it merely came wrapped in Xbox One-themed paper with no special items added.
As it stands, if you’re in the U.S., you’re going to have to make some plans to fly out of the country if you want a chance to grab any of the Lynx Xbox products. When they launch in July, they’ll only be available in Australia and New Zealand. If it performs well, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Lynx Xbox lineup leave the region and take the official scent of Xbox around the world.
